Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/887355
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2017 Opinion 22 I would like to share a teacher's perspective whilst expressing my appreciation for the work carried out by all educators: "Life as a teacher is fulfilling. Every day we get the chance to inspire young people, making sure every pupil/student gets the same access to a quality education and the opportunity to succeed. We use our knowledge and passion for our subject to help children and young people unlock capabilities and talents that they didn't even know they had. In the course of a normal day, most of us would deliver lessons to over 100 students with different interests and learning needs. Teaching and learning does (sic) not stop with the bell at the end of the school day. We mark and plan for the next set of lessons mostly after school hours. We seek out new strategies and advice from colleagues. This is an ongoing process that ensures that classroom practices evolve. We attend Continuous Professional Development courses and seek additional qualification courses. "All that we do despite having worrying working conditions. The heavy workload, endless reforms, low salary, an absence of autonomy, the "always-on" continually demanding nature of our work, intense work cycles, unruly pupils/students, uncooperative parents… This is making teaching stressful, unattractive, and at times unrewarding, so much so that many of our colleagues are leaving the profession and few young people are willing to take up a teaching career. "So there aren't just things that we love about our job, there are some real problems and we don't have to just watch those problems happen or give up. We believe in strengthening our Union, in supporting it so that it supports us. We are proud members of Malta's first registered trade union: the Malta Union of Teachers. As such we stand together in solidarity. United we speak with a stronger voice, one voice for all teaching grades and on behalf of the children and young people we support." The stork brought 600 new teachers! On the first day of the new scholastic year, the Ministry for Education issued a statement – which was later corrected – boasting an increase of some 600 new teachers. The MUT immediately issued a reaction, stating that this figure is incorrect and contrasts sharply with the number of new teachers (about 150) who have just attended the induction meeting organised by the Ministry and with the number of graduating students (about 100) from the University of Malta this year. The union also took the opportunity to shed some light on the variety of issues being encountered because of this shortage, which is currently being felt in various schools and resource centres. In recent weeks the MUT has in fact been flooded with cases of members experiencing related issues, ranging from transfers back to the classroom after being promoted or having shifted to services, to teachers being forced to teach different subjects and in more than one school. We had cases of retired teachers being pestered to return to their employment. We had classes from both Primary and Secondary (in the latter even students following different syllabi) being joined together as one class to their detriment, and we had many teachers assigned their absolute maximum lesson loads permitted, which in reality means that they will not have the time and space to contribute in other ways which might be of benefit to their students' education. We are therefore at a crossroads, and unless the ministry gets back with proper feedback following the agreement proposals submitted by the union to the directorates and agrees on a substantial improvement in salaries and conditions for educators, the sector will continue to face this uphill struggle. Again, this is a golden opportunity for the ministry and the directorates to show that they indeed respect the education profession as stated repeatedly by the ministry. Marco Bonnici is president of the Malta Union of Teachers Unless the ministry gets back with proper feedback following the agreement proposals submitted by the union, and agrees on a substantial improvement in salaries and conditions for educators, the sector will continue to face this uphill struggle This is a golden opportunity for the ministry and the directorates to show that they indeed respect the education profession In praise of an undervalued profession Operation Programme II – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014 – 2020 "Investing in Human capital to create more opportunities and promote the well- being of society" Project part-financed by the European Social Fund Co-Financing rate: 80% European Union; 20% National Funds OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER MINISTRY FOR HEALTH d ,D/E/^dZz&KZ,>d,/Es/d^WW>/d/KE^&KZ d,WK^/d/KEK& WZK:d^hWWKZdK&&/Z &ŽƌƚŚĞ^&&ƵŶĚĞĚWƌŽũĞĐƚ"EKEͲd,E/>^>^dZ/E/E'&KZ ,>d,ZWZ^KEE>"Ͳ^&ϬϮ͘ϬϱϮ ĞƚĂŝůƐĂďŽƵƚƚŚŝƐĐĂůů͕ĂŶĚƌĞůĂƚĞĚĐŽŶĚŝƚŝŽŶƐĂƌĞĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞŽŶƚŚĞ 'ŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ'ĂnjĞƚƚĞŽĨϭϯ ƚŚ KĐƚŽďĞƌϮϬϭϳ͘ ƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶƐǁŝůůďĞƌĞĐĞŝǀĞĚzEKd>dZd,E EKKE;EdZ>hZKWEd/DͿK&&Z/zϮϳ ƚŚ KdKZϮϬϭϳ Marco Bonnici